Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is recommending the FCC drop its tentative plan to lift its ban on in-flight cellphone use, according to USA Today. Tests by the CTIA have shown that even using pico cells (sending the signal through a small antenna on the plane) can cause interference with towers on the ground, especially if the pico cell can’t recognize the signal from the handset. The pico cells would use spectrum earmarked just for air to ground use which is owned by AirCell. Jack Blumstein, CEO of Aircell, said the technical issues of interference can be fixed. The larger problem is simply a lack of enthusiasm by both consumers and carriers for in-flight mobile phone use — most people don’t want to sit near people talking on mobile phones for hours at a time. Aircell plans to roll out a WiFi service for $10 a trip sometime in 2008.
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